Editor's Blog2 mins ago
Cherry Picking.
29 Answers
There seems to be a common approach to people's views which involves starting off with a prejudged viewpoint, then citing scripture or science to support that viewpoint. The bible, the Koran, various scientific views, are combed to find something to support the prejudgement.
Heaven, Hell, Global warming, are recent AB topics, and all arguments rely on 'authority'.
But, picking the cherries out of the cake to make a lovely gobful is an awful way to go about seeking the truth.
Why for example do people entrust their lives to scientists and engineers when they want to fly off on holiday or get their hearts operated on, but distrust scientists when they are told difficult things like use less energy, try to care for the planet's natural resources?
Heaven, Hell, Global warming, are recent AB topics, and all arguments rely on 'authority'.
But, picking the cherries out of the cake to make a lovely gobful is an awful way to go about seeking the truth.
Why for example do people entrust their lives to scientists and engineers when they want to fly off on holiday or get their hearts operated on, but distrust scientists when they are told difficult things like use less energy, try to care for the planet's natural resources?
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Science has a habit of relegating that which it either doesn’t fully understand, or which it would rather not consider because pre-conceived concepts deem it unworthy, into a series of files labelled appropriately in terms it does understand. We should question science…. and vigorously. It is not infallible.
Immediate benefits are more readily apparent than the consideration of long term costs. For some, believing takes precedence over knowing. Facts are all well and good but heaven forbid a fact should conflict with a preferred delusion.
In short, not all people recognise or fully appreciate the value of developing and maintaining a rational mind. I've long since ceased operating under the presumption that anyone else thinks like me or that thinking differently is necessarily a bad thing so long as they don't impose their own beliefs upon others.
In short, not all people recognise or fully appreciate the value of developing and maintaining a rational mind. I've long since ceased operating under the presumption that anyone else thinks like me or that thinking differently is necessarily a bad thing so long as they don't impose their own beliefs upon others.
n. //Science has a habit of relegating that which it either doesn’t fully understand, or which it would rather not consider because pre-conceived concepts deem it unworthy,...//
How true. Lao-tzu (circa 500 BC) believed that contradictions often reveal a deep truth ; to moderns science contradictions indicate error.
How true. Lao-tzu (circa 500 BC) believed that contradictions often reveal a deep truth ; to moderns science contradictions indicate error.
Naomi and Khandro. The essence of science is that it continually questions its own ideas and current beliefs. It looks at the world to try to find out what makes it tick, and it is a happy scientist who finds something not quite right in current thinking and triess to suggest a correction or improvement. That's not really how religions work.
// Science has a habit of relegating that which it either doesn’t fully understand, //
is ( a statement that has ) nothing to do with science
and can be called a prejudged view point
who was it who said they always entered a thread with a blank mind ?
Normal day on AB then
Nothing wrong with questioning science - Kelvin ( 1890 ) said there was nothing left to science xc the tenth decimal point
oo-er I hope he wasnt a govt advisor !
( x rays, quantim theory, photons , radioactivity etc etc)
[foo who Kelvin den, what govt advisor etc etc]
is ( a statement that has ) nothing to do with science
and can be called a prejudged view point
who was it who said they always entered a thread with a blank mind ?
Normal day on AB then
Nothing wrong with questioning science - Kelvin ( 1890 ) said there was nothing left to science xc the tenth decimal point
oo-er I hope he wasnt a govt advisor !
( x rays, quantim theory, photons , radioactivity etc etc)
[foo who Kelvin den, what govt advisor etc etc]
Athiest: Not only do I use & acknowledge 'clever' quotes, I believe, like Ludwig Wittgenstein, that a whole philosophy could be summarised in nothing more than jokes.
verbatim: “A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.” L.W.
Atheist; a first lesson in humility is that no one, not even you dare I say, starts from scratch; even the Greeks had their antecedents.
Go figure!
verbatim: “A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.” L.W.
Atheist; a first lesson in humility is that no one, not even you dare I say, starts from scratch; even the Greeks had their antecedents.
Go figure!
Atheist, you may be mistaking "distrust scientists" with disregard scientists.
"The essence of science is that it continually questions its own ideas and current beliefs." ... if science was a living entity then I might believe that. Scientists are human - with all the human foibles all humans have - and most nowadays are not self-financing.
On your heading "Cherry Picking", implicit bias ( unconscious favouritism towards or prejudice against people of a particular ethnicity, gender, or social group that influences one's actions or perceptions) probably has an effect, mixed in with our sense of identity and a confirmation bias component.
"The essence of science is that it continually questions its own ideas and current beliefs." ... if science was a living entity then I might believe that. Scientists are human - with all the human foibles all humans have - and most nowadays are not self-financing.
On your heading "Cherry Picking", implicit bias ( unconscious favouritism towards or prejudice against people of a particular ethnicity, gender, or social group that influences one's actions or perceptions) probably has an effect, mixed in with our sense of identity and a confirmation bias component.
